Coping Methods for Friends and Family Members of Those with Anxiety Disorders

Image by Lawrence OP via Flickr

Patients who have anxiety disorders will often find that dealing with their medical condition, but people who love those with anxiety disorders many find coping even more difficult. If you yourself do not have an anxiety disorder, it may be difficult to understand another person, and yet you must still offer full support. Here are some methods you can deal with a friend or family member that has an anxiety disorder.

First, learn all you can about anxiety disorders and your loved one’s specific condition. Anxiety disorders range from slight to very severe and can be caused by a number of things. When you understand what causes a certain condition and how it is treated, you can better help your loved one. You can look up information on the Internet, talk to your love one’s doctor or other medical professionals, read up on the latest news in professional journals and magazines, and purchase or borrow from the library books on the anxiety disorder affecting your. Knowledge about the subject will help you to understand the condition, even if you are not personally suffering from it.

Another way to deal with a loved one’s anxiety disorder is to join support groups. You may not benefit from a support group full of people who are suffering from the disorder, but you can absolutely look for support groups for family members of those suffering from anxiety disorders. If these sorts of support groups are not available, you can look for some devoted to friends and family members of people suffering from mental illnesses in general. Don’t be afraid to start you own as well! There are millions of people suffering from anxiety disorders, each with loved ones who would benefit from a support group. Contact your local community center or hospital in order to check if support group meetings are being offered.

When dealing with a loved one’s anxiety disorder, it is also important to remember to take care of you own health as well. Helping someone who is dealing with any kind of medical condition, including a mental illness, can be emotionally draining and physically difficult. Don’t be afraid to ask for your own medical help by talking to a doctor or therapist. The most important thing in your life should be your own physical, emotional, and mental health, because if you aren’t at your best, you can’t help anyone else with his or her medical problems either.

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Tetris Inoculation Against PTSD Flashbacks

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
January 8, 2009

Imagine an inoculation that a soldier could take within an hour or two of witnessing a particularly traumatic wartime event. If there was a drug to prevent flashbacks from occurring later on, most soldiers would probably take it. Call it an Anti-PTSD drug.

But what if that drug wasn’t a drug at all, but a simple computer game you could equip every military unit with on the front lines?

Yes, researchers who did an analogue study on 40 undergraduates suggest that the old computer game Tetris can actually help prevent future post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) flashbacks. Here’s their theory:

Our theory is based on two key findings:

1) Cognitive science suggests that the brain has selective resources with limited capacity;

2) The neurobiology of memory suggests a 6-hr window to disrupt memory consolidation.

The rationale for a ‘cognitive vaccine’ approach is as follows: Trauma flashbacks are sensory-perceptual, visuo-spatial mental images. Visuo-spatial cognitive tasks selectively compete for resources required to generate mental images. Thus, a visuo-spatial computer game (e.g. “Tetris”) will interfere with flashbacks.

Their findings?

After leaving the laboratory, participants then kept a daily diary in which they recorded their flashbacks to the trauma film over a period of 1-week. Crucially, we found that participants [who played 10 minutes of Tetris] experienced significantly fewer flashbacks over the week than those [who didn't]. Furthermore, at 1-week, participants returned to the laboratory and participants in the game condition had significantly lower scores on the measure of clinical symptomatology of trauma.

Playing Tetris appeared to interfere with the brain’s ability to form a significant visuo-spatial memory of the traumatic event. Such memories are an important component to flashbacks. No such memories means a reduced likelihood of future flashbacks.

The limitations of the study are many — undergrads, not real trauma (the students watched a 12 minute film), and only a 1 week followup. So it’s hard to say whether these findings would be robust enough to actually work on real trauma experienced firsthand by an individual, versus a movie watching in a college laboratory.

But if confirmed, the findings would suggest that we could help prevent (or perhaps at the very least, reduce) the likelihood of future flashbacks (and perhaps full-blown PTSD) by simply having soldiers play specific video games like Tetris as soon as they return to the safety of their camp.

This may possibly be a great prevention method for anyone exposed to a traumatic event if the findings hold up. A hospital ER could be equipped with computer terminals (or Nintendo DSs) with Tetris on them, with one possible treatment for psychological trauma victims being an emergency “course” of Tetris. It’ll be interesting to see if this research holds up under further study, as it would be a ground-breaking intervention for a preventative treatment for PTSD.

Read the full article: PLoS ONE: Can Playing the Computer Game “Tetris” Reduce the Build-Up of Flashbacks for Trauma? A Proposal from Cognitive Science

Combat Stress: A Natural Result of Heavy Mental and Emotional Work

Combat stress (sometimes called combat and operational stress or combat and operational stress reaction) is a common response to the mental and emotional effort service members exercise when facing tough and dangerous situations. Simply put, combat stress is similar to the muscle fatigue and soreness experienced after a tough physical workout. The way your brain handles combat stress can be compared to the way your body may handle a physical workout; it all depends on your level of fitness/training.¹

Combat stress is not an illness and may be experienced by any service member during both peace and war, due to stressful conditions during training, deployment, humanitarian missions, government support missions and other assignments.²

Anyone Can Experience Combat Stress

General Carter Ham, the Commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, experienced combat stress upon his return from an Iraq deployment. He and his wife spoke candidly about the experience, his treatment and recovery in a January 2009 Stars and Stripes article.³

Recognizing Combat Stress: The brain is like a muscle. How can you tell when your mind is fatigued?

Not long after a new workout, your arms and legs may be so sore, you can barely perform everyday tasks without discomfort. You may soak in a warm bath or opt for a massage to ease the soreness. The signs are easy to spot because the physical pain is there.

Some signs and symptoms of combat stress may be harder to detect. Combat stress can cause problems with the way you think and respond to emotions. You may experience changes in your behavior, and sometimes the symptoms may manifest in physical form. Individuals respond differently to combat stress and display different symptoms. Some common symptoms of combat stress are listed below.^{1, 4, 5, 6}

Thought Process

• Problems concentrating.
• Confusion.
• Having problems in making decisions or processing information.
• Memory loss.
• Having a hard time telling what is real.
• Re-experiencing events or flashbacks.
• Troubling memories or nightmares.
• Loss of trust.
• Hallucinations or delusions (that don’t go away with adequate sleep).

Emotions

• Unusual or excessive anxiety, fear, worry or nervousness.
• Depression, despair or unexplained sadness.
• Numbness and lack of interest in life.
• Agitation and intense anger or irritability.
• Guilt and shame or a sense of failure.
• Feeling overwhelmed.
• Feelings of isolation.
• Mood swings.
• Loss of confidence and trust.

Behavior

• Withdrawing and avoiding others.
• Restlessness or fidgeting.
• Being over-watchful or overly concerned about safety.
• Angry outbursts.
• Crying.
• Changes in diet.
• Risky or careless behaviors, such as increased smoking, drug or alcohol use, and reckless driving.
• Staring into space (the “thousand-yard stare”).

Physical Symptoms

• Problems sleeping.
• Exhaustion.
• Worsening health problems.
• Pounding heart and sweating; cold sweats.
• Problems with eating or digestion.
• Nausea, frequent urination or diarrhea.
• Trembling hands.
• Numbness, tingling or loss of function in limbs or other body parts.
• Headaches.
• Changes in vision.

Symptoms may be noticeable immediately following a stressful event, but can take several days — even months — to manifest. Oftentimes, troops first notice symptoms soon after returning home. Symptoms that continue for weeks or months, become increasingly worse or include violent or self-destructive behavior call for immediate medical evaluation and assistance.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) offers a confidential interactive diagnostic tool for service members and families who want to evaluate combat stress symptoms at AfterDeployment.org. Visit the DoD resource for the After Deployment Diagnostic Tool.

AfterDeployment.org is a mental wellness resource for service members, veterans and military families. If you’ve deployed, or know someone who has, you know that spending time in a war zone means being changed in some way. Some of these changes are good. But some of these changes may be causing problems for you or for someone you know. Having problems after a deployment is common. Unfortunately, less than half of the service members having difficulty after a deployment seek services.

AfterDeployment’s mission is to assist you and the people close to you with managing your after-deployment concerns. We believe that working on solutions is a sign of strength, and the time you spend here is a positive step in ensuring a smooth and healthy transition back to home life.

Additionally, a confidential self-assessment tool sponsored by the Department of Defense is available online.

More Help for Assessing Combat Stress: You know yourself best, but sometimes a second opinion helps

A medical evaluation can be helpful for anyone affected by combat stress. Many symptoms are the same as those for physical conditions — so it’s important to rule out any health problems. Seek help if symptoms continue for more than a few weeks after returning home or disrupt daily work and life.

For symptoms that are more serious, getting help is critical to the strength of your military and family units and to the health of relationships with friends. Seeking help early can help avoid stress reactions from worsening or becoming long-term.

As a first step, service members might talk to a chaplain or other spiritual advisor, family members or friends about the symptoms. Each of the Armed Services offers special support services in the field (Service Combat Stress Control Teams for the Army and Air Force, Operational Stress Control and Readiness teams in the Navy/Marine Corps). These teams evaluate, treat and educate troops affected by combat stress, and in most cases help them return to their units without referring them to higher-level care.

Photo by Pfc. Eric D. Arndt

Non-deployed service members and families can seek assistance through installation medical and counseling services (a medical treatment facility, clinic or hospital) or a local civilian mental health clinic or community mental health center. The TRICARE Network of providers is a good starting point when seeking care. Active duty, Guard or reserve personnel can also get assistance through the Veterans Health Administration including Readjustment Counseling Service Vet Centers and post-traumatic stress disorder treatment programs.

"We … talked about removing the stigma and recognizing the extraordinary pressure our force is under and figuring out a way that we can say, 'It's OK, I need some help.’ We need to be making sure we take care of each other, particularly when we come back from time in combat, and that we reintegrate well.”

Admiral Michael G. Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaking at the opening of the Behavioral Health Department’s Wilcox facility at Fort Drum.⁷

5 Ways To Relieve Stress This Weekend

5 Ways To Relieve Stress This Weekend

- by Chris Green

(c) Chris Green - All Rights reserved
http://www.conqueringstress.com

In today's busy world, stress is a real problem for many people throughout the week. There is so much to do both at work and at home and it's so important for your health to keep stress at bay. Here's how to make the most of your weekend so you can relax and enjoy living and relieve stress as you do.

Listening to music is another great stress-buster and certainly beats watching the garbage dished up on TV these days. Music can inspire, soothe, calm, and excite you and it is one of the greatest pleasures life has to offer in my humble opinion. So why not take in some live music? Whether your tastes lie in classical, opera, jazz, blues or R&B, you'll be able to find somewhere that caters to your taste. Or, you could just schedule some time to sit down and listen to your favorite CD's in the comfort of your home - maybe have a relaxing soak in the tub as you do? It's such a great way to relieve stress, so make it a part of your stress-busting weekend.

How about involving all of the family in your weekend of stress relief? A picnic is a great day out for all of the family. Zoos, theme parks, the beach, the lakes are places all of the family will enjoy but you don't have to venture afar to enjoy a picnic. You could enjoy a picnic in the comfort of your garden, maybe even fire up the barbecue while you're at it? Your picnic, your call, just make sure all the family are involved in preparing the food so they feel part of it.

Why not take full advantage of the free time the weekend brings by doing something new? You could visit a new town or village, a park, a museum, or even a new restaurant or a coffee shop. You could go watch some sport, or even take up a new sport or hobby. This will broaden your horizons and will keep life fresh and interesting as well as helping to relieve stress.

Why not spend a cosy night indoors with your lover and cook a special dinner? A great idea is to try different cuisines - be as exotic as you dare! This is time for indulging your relationship so leave the stressful stuff like work elsewhere. Make the effort to dress for dinner and have candles and relaxing music in the background to create a nice ambience. I know one couple who've done this at least once a month for more than 30 years and they say it's one of the main reasons for their success. Try it, I have and it is a great way to bust stress and improve your relationship.

Take a timeout and spend a day or two completely away from the firing line. Go somewhere tranquil, somewhere you can take walks or cycle rides to take in the scenery and immerse yourself in the natural beauty of the place. Lakes, a beach, a park, the countryside - whatever you enjoy. Just leave your cares and worries behind and enjoy the peace and tranquillity.

You can use these tips to help you make the most of your weekends and relieve stress as you do. Why not give them a try this weekend?

Click Here Now to get started right away on kicking stress, depression and anxiety out of your life forever so you can enjoy a brighter, happier future!

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For more tips, articles and information about how to relieve anxiety and depression naturally without taking powerful antidepressant drugs, then please visit the Conquering Stress website at: http://www.conqueringstress.com

3 Steps to Working with Anger

By Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.

In his book Taming the Tiger Within: Meditations for Transforming Difficult Emotions, acclaimed author and Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh writes:

Recognize and embrace your anger when it manifests itself. Care for it with tenderness rather than suppressing it.

In an earlier article I wrote about the difference between destructive and constructive anger and how Thich Nhat Hanh writes about taking care of our anger. There are three things you can do to help take care of your anger.

• Acknowledgment - The first point of change happens with awareness. Often times we either are not aware of our anger because we are suppressing and repressing it or not aware of the warning signs before we just explode. Awareness of the warning signs that anger is present is important to begin to get in touch with. The most practical way to do this is by paying attention to our bodies. Think of a scenario that really makes your blood boil and let it stew in your mind for a bit. Then shift your attention to your body and notice what sensations are there. You may notice warmth, tightness in the chest, tension in certain muscles, teeth clenching, and pressure in the eyes. Get to know these physical feelings as they can be a great guide as to when anger is arising.

Along with knowing the warning signs, it’s important to acknowledge in our own minds when anger is here. We can even say; anger is here right now. This nonjudgmental acknowledgment is critical recognizing that there is discontent in us at the moment and it would be wise to do the next step.

• Care of Anger - It is well known that when we are in a state of anger or in a state of repressing our anger, we often times say or do things that we regret later. It’s not that the anger is “bad”, it’s just that often times having a dialogue when really angry isn’t as effective as cooling down and then coming back and expressing what you are feeling. How do we take care of our anger in the moment? With the recognition that the anger is there, you may choose to step away for a bit and notice this discomfort or pain inside. With awareness of it, you may even bring your attention to your breath and say “breathing in, I am aware of this anger, breathing out I calm my body.” You may also choose to take a walk, while attempting to be “tender” and embracing your anger as if it was a little child, a mini-you, who needed love inside. After some time the anger will soften and transform a bit revealing what may be underneath it. This will take some practice.
• Awareness of others - Often times when we get angry there is someone else involved. Our reaction often is one of retaliation to get back at the other person with little awareness that this actually increases our own suffering as the conflict escalates. We don’t want to hold back or pretend we aren’t angry, but we also don’t want to retaliate as this doesn’t help. In this step, it is important to really try and put yourself in the other person’s shoes to see why they possibly reacted the way they did. This can be very difficult or near impossible if it was a serious offense of abuse. So take this step with caution and at your own pace. You may also want to check out and earlier blog on refusing to forgive. Peace in yourself, can lead to peace in the relationship.

By no means is it easy to tame the tiger within, please have compassion for yourself during this process. If you have a longstanding issue of suppressing or all-too-quickly and dramatically expressing your anger, it may be good to seek support from a healthcare professional.

As always, please share your thoughts, stories, and questions. Your interactions here provide a living wisdom for us all to benefit from.

Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist and conducts a private practice in West Los Angeles. Check out Dr. Goldstein's acclaimed CD's on stress prevention, depression, and addiction -- "They are so relevant, I have marked them as one of my favorites on a handout I give to all new clients" ~ Psychiatrist. If you're wanting an interactive program to find relief from anxiety and stress, check out Dr. Goldstein's progressive online behavioral change program in Aliveworld. If you're wanting to integrate more mindfulness into your daily life, sign up for his Mindful Living Twitter Feed. Dr. Goldstein is also available for private psychotherapy.

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Serotonin & Depression

Dealing with Depression

Recent studies have shown that imbalances in serotonin levels trigger depression. Doctors often treat patients with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (eg. Prozac) because these medications can help to regulate serotonin levels.

It is the role that serotonin plays in depression that perhaps is of most interest. People with depression have measurable 'imbalances' in the brain's neurotransmitters; low levels of serotonin are believed to play a critical role.

If an episode of depression causes a change in your serotonin level, this can have an effect on your pain threshold too. Because serotonin helps keep 'pain gates' closed, a lack of it can make you feel more pain.

Serotonin also helps with sleep, which explains the sleep disturbance encountered by those with depression.

This also explains why people can get such immediate relief from drugs - serotonin is so strongly involved in sleep regulation, pain perception and mood that an increase can have a huge effect. The danger of course, is becoming dependent on drugs instead of tackling the root cause of the depression.

Research indicates that the best way to elevate serotonin levels is to stimulate the body to produce more serotonin.

Serotonin is one of dozens of neurotransmitters and is found in body tissues including the brain, blood, and the mucous membranes lining the stomach and digestive tract.

In the past decade, research studies of serotonin have found that it plays an essential role in the regulation of sleep, appetite, temperature, blood vessel tone, secretion of certain hormones and in the perception of pain, thereby affecting a wide range of conditions, such as migraine headaches, depression and sleep disturbances.

There is a way to stimulate the brain to produce more serotonin without side effects. It is self regulating, inexpensive and perfectly safe.

The Serorotonin Acoustic Brainwave Activation is a product which has been scientifically proven to stimulate the release of serotonin with regular use.

Finally - this is a real breakthrough in altered state technology!

Acoustic Brainwave Activation will change your brainwave activity, mood or state safely, consistently and effectively. You will achieve peace, relaxation, enlightenment, personal enhancement and much much more.

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Name Three Reasons You Miss Sleep

The Most Common Causes of Sleeplessness

Name three reasons you miss sleep. Here’s a check list. Pick your faves: 1) too much to do, 2) got to bed late, 3) ate too much dinner, 4) awakened in the night thinking about work and couldn’t go back to sleep, 5) noises outside, 6) had to set the alarm early to prepare for something…Sound familiar?

Worry is one of the big reported causes of sleeplessness. Many people prefer to call it “thinking.” Worry falls into three timeframes: 1) either people lie awake unable to fall asleep, 2) or they fall asleep but awaken in the night because of a noise or to take a bio break, then can’t resume sleep; or 3) they awaken too early in the morning and can’t fall back asleep. Less frequent is having two or three of these conditions (except under extreme stress).

Typically, worry would not be characterized as a sleep disorder, but rather a sleep disruption.

Sleep disorders, per se¸ have a medical or physiological tie-in. To get a handle on sleep disorders, think of them as falling into two categories: internally stimulated or externally stimulated. Internally provoked causes sleeplessness cover everything from run-away thinking to a full bladder.

Externally provoked wakefulness during sleep times covers things like loud noises, interruptions, bright lights, etc.

You immediately see from this simple breakdown there are a few things about getting a good night’s sleep that are fairly easy to control under most circumstances. For the most part, stimuli causing wakefulness that you can prevent or control without medication would fall under experiential insomnia, not sleep disorders.

Internally triggered sleeplessness, however, is more complex than pulling dark shades or plugging in your white noise machine. Internal causes are further broken down into voluntary and involuntary, for lack of better terms. For example, we could make a case that worrying all night is voluntary. Of course, you feel like it isn’t, especially at the time. But you could choose to think about butterflies and balmy lake breezes rather than how you are going to get 17 non-productive people in the department you just took over to start performing up to par. Neurological disorders, on the other hand, would clearly be involuntary—and a disorder, not merely insomnia.

For a clearer breakdown of internal causes of sleep disruption, think of them as non-physically triggered and physically triggered. Among physical triggers are sleep-robbing medications, menopause and other hormonal swings (such as pregnancy), injuries, illness, etc. Sleep terrors, sleep walking and REM sleep behavior disorder can be among the most serious disorders, because a person moving while sleeping can be a danger to both themselves and to others.

These latter conditions fall under the domain of sleep disorders. In other words, lying awake at night thinking about work is uncomfortable, but it is not a sleep disorder. Insomnia is a nuisance, but it is not a sleep disorder—it is a problem. Sleep apnea is a disorder.

Sleeplessness itself is most-commonly associated with tension, anxiety, depression, and worries about work or finances. Even a less-than-favorable sex life can lead to night-time restlessness.

Indigestion from overeating, or eating foods less compatible with one’s biological type shortly before going to sleep can trigger discomfort and eventual wakefulness. Certain substances, like alcohol for example, have a rebound effect of first sedating, then stimulating.

Whether insomnia is invited over after a nasty bit of cheese steak or by a genetic predisposition, it is important to pay attention to it, ascertain the cause or causes in your case and make every resolve to get uninterrupted, quality sleep. Daytime tiredness can cause injuries, accidents and even death, in addition to the dangers posed by what may occur during physiological sleep disorders themselves.

Treatments are accessible and in most cases fairly inexpensive. The problem is, whether you have too much wine before going to bed or awaken with night terrors, either way, your life and the lives of those you love are at risk.

Get some sleep!

If you feel you have a sleep disorder, then consult with a physician. If you suffer from too much worry, then I highly recommend a program called “Totally Tranquil” from Holothink. It helps to bring your brain into a more calm state that enables relaxation. You can try a free demo at http://www.HoloThink.com

Holothink has also released a set of programs that can help with a variety of sleep related issues called Digital Sandman – if you need a quick refresher nap, need help relaxing into sleep, or you want help staying asleep, they have the bases covered for you with programs that address each. To learn more visit: http://www.DigitalSandman.com

Is Any Of This Experience Familiar To You?

Is Any Of This Experience Familiar To You?

• Maybe you found yourself in the hospital's ER because you thought you were having a heart attack only to be told later it was anxiety?
• Do you ever fear you might stop breathing because your chest feels tight and your breathing erratic?
• When you drive do you fear the idea of getting stuck in traffic, on a bridge or at red lights?
• Do you ever feel nervous and afraid you might lose control or go insane?
• Have you struggled with anxious thoughts that will not stop?
• Do you ever feel uncomfortable in enclosed spaces such as supermarkets, cinemas, public transport or even sitting at the hair dressers?
• Are you nervous and on edge in normal situations that never bothered you before?

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Do You Feel Any Of The Following Bodily Sensations?

• Dizzy spells leading to panic
• Tightness in throat and chest- shortness of breath
• Racing heart with tingle sensations
• Hot flushes followed by waves of anxiety
• Obsessive worries and unwanted thoughts
• Not feeling connected to what is going on around you
• Overwhelming fear that the anxiety will push you over the edge?

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These and other similar uncomfortable sensations are all too common but the truth is you do not have to ever suffer from another panic attack or anxiety attack immediate

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The Worry Trap — And How to Escape Its Deadly Grip

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The Worry Trap — And How to Escape Its Deadly Grip

By Robert Mantell, Ph.D., C.M.Ht.
©2009 All Rights Reserved.

“Try to relax and stop worrying so much.”
“Mellow out... It’ll all be OK.”
“Why can’t you be more positive?”
“What’s the use of worrying about things you can’t change?”
“Why don’t you just think about something else?”

If you’re one of the millions of people around the world who constantly find themselves worrying, you’ve undoubtedly heard this well-intended advice from friends, colleagues, relatives — even therapists. But of course, you know it doesn’t help. Heck, if that’s all it took to get you to stop worrying, you’d have done it a long time ago.

The good news, however, is that there is an answer for you. There is a way to stop the seemingly endless cycle of worry, fear and uncertainty.

Before we get there, however, it’s important to get clear on just why we tend to worry so much — especially when we know darn well that what we’re worrying about probably won’t — or couldn’t — actually ever really happen.

What?

Yup. There are people who find themselves literally obsessed with worry about things that they’ll actually tell you they know darned well probably couldn’t really ever happen.

Sounds counterintuitive, though, doesn’t it? How is such a thing possible?

Click Here!

You see, it’s one thing to concern ourselves about events that we believe actually could — or in all likelihood, will — happen at some point in the future. Life is replete with opportunities to worry about things like that. Death, taxes, inability to perform adequately at work, concern about our child’s behavior in school, problems paying the bills, etc., etc. Admittedly, this is certainly the more common form of worry. For most, these people’s concerns could actually be considered fairly reasonable.

On the other hand, a great many people find themselves trapped — even completely incapacitated — by fears of things they actually know, in all probability, couldn’t really happen.

But how is this possible? In other words, if someone actually knows that the odds of this thing they’re concerned about actually happening are infinitesimally small, how is it possible for such a person to be virtually consumed by the worry of it?

Such worries are common for people who have been diagnosed with an anxiety problem known as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or OCD. And you can imagine that this is actually the most difficult form of worry to effectively eradicate — unless you know the secret of how to make that happen.

In this article, I’m going to offer you some powerful tips for how to alleviate chronic worry. But before we do that, let’s get clear on just why you worry so much — and why all the well-meaning advice to “just try to think about something else” will never work.

WHAT ME WORRY?

Click Here!

So what’s the purpose of worry in the first place? Why do we seem to be able to do it so easily?

Well, for most, worry is a strategy designed to help a person prepare the best they can for a future that they experience as uncertain, fraught with danger, out of control or just plain unpredictable. Such individuals consume themselves with thoughts of all the horrible possibilities that could actually occur in an effort to prepare themselves for any such eventuality. But because the possibilities really are endless, such people continue the pattern of worrying to the point where it becomes chronic and overwhelming — because it actually would take virtually forever to think of all the possible outcomes the future could possibly hold for us!

Of course, no one consciously chooses to cope with fear of the unknown by worrying incessantly about it. Rather, it’s learned as a result of life experience. When there’s no better way to alleviate fear of the unknown — and when the unknown has become sufficiently fearful — the brain will do the best it can to figure out any way at all that might help, even if that way doesn’t actually work. After all, the brain figures, some strategy to deal with fear of the unknown is better than no strategy at all, isn’t it?

The fact is, for many people, this “best way” is a miserable failure. After all, on how many occasions could you honestly say that having worried to death about a problem situation actually led to a useful solution?

PROBABILITY VS. POSSIBILITY

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You see, it’s one thing to process, review or curiously examine a problem situation, and it’s quite another to just worry ad nauseum about things you know you ultimately can’t change anyway.

The difference between the more garden variety tendency to worry and the kind of troublesome, relatively therapy-resistant kind of worrying behavior typically associated with OCD is that the former is based on the actual probability that something bad could happen, and that the latter is based on nothing more than the mere possibility — however small — that something bad can happen.

I had a 34-year-old gentleman in my office several months ago, who, although exceedingly successful in material terms, had been haunted by an almost ceaseless fear of being exposed to the AIDS virus for nearly the past 18 years.

As is the case with most such individuals, he was highly steeped in matters of “right” vs. “wrong”, what is “good” vs. what is “bad”, and issues of the sort. He was highly sensitized to circumstances that could lead, in even the slightest possible way, to being exposed to things like blood and other bodily fluids that could possibly contain the AIDS virus within.

Because his personal radar was so highly focused onto such matters, he would come in reporting an impressive frequency of life events wherein he had witnessed, for example, blood on the hand of a waiter, or blood on the finger of a grocery baggage clerk. It was truly amazing how often — simply during the course of normal daily living — he seemed to come into contact with people who just happened to have blood on them!

When asked how this fear was a problem for him, he said the worry of being exposed to AIDS was so overwhelming for him that it monopolized great chunks of his time and energy, stopping him from being able to concentrate on nearly anything else, and robbing him of any ability to be productive in areas that mattered most to him — like business.

So focused was he on issues pertaining to this — so busy was he attempting to worry himself into (hopefully!) the greatest possible preparedness — he had expended enormous amounts of time and energy researching the actual odds of coming into contact with substances that could possibly transmit the AIDS virus.

Of course, he found that the probability of actually contracting the AIDS virus — even if he were to come into contact with some possible transmitting agent — were almost ridiculously small, something on the order of 1 in 10,000.

But did the awareness of such a thing transpiring actually make a difference for this gentleman? Nope.

Of course, you’d think it would. You’d think that the realization that the chances of actually contracting AIDS were nearly nonexistent would help him relax and let go of the overwhelming, all-consuming fear of such an outcome.

But no.

You see, for this gentleman, the mere possibility of such an outcome — however small — was enough to cause him incessant worry about it, to the exclusion of nearly everything else.

We had woman in our office some time later with a similar fear — except that, in her case, the fear was of germs. This, of course, is yet another thing to be feared that one cannot typically see and thus be easily able to protect themselves from. An interesting observation is that most of the things people tend to obsessively worry about just happen to be things that are difficult to determine the existence of, one way or the other.

This woman came to see us with her husband, whom we had asked to join us. This woman’s fears had become so pervasive in terms of its impact in her family that her entire family’s organizational structure had been turned upside down. For example, the family’s seven children were no longer permitted to sleep in their bedrooms or wash in their bathrooms. The family was no longer able to enjoy their free time the way they preferred, so dependent had she become on her family’s willingness to do things for her. The woman had become totally unable to do any housework, so fearful was she of coming into contact with germs. Clearly, there were multiple family-related dynamics supporting the presence of the fear in this woman's life.

As was the case with the gentleman I mentioned a moment ago, this woman’s fear of something she couldn’t actually see — and therefore could never actually verify as to its real presence or not — completely ruled her (and her family’s!) life. The probability or actual likelihood of being exposed to disease-inducing germs never figured into her perception of whether there actually was anything to fear in the first place. For her, the mere possibility of such exposure was sufficient to virtually incapacitate her.

WHAT THE SOLUTION IS NOT

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So how do you deal with something like this? How do you assist someone to neutralize his subjective experience of fear when no amount of conscious insight or logic will make a difference for him?

Well, one thing’s for sure. It’s not to suggest the person simply try to think more positively. And it’s not to suggest the person simply stop worrying about it, or to try to think about something else. And why not?

Well, have you ever tried to stop worrying about something that you just can't seem to help worrying about? If so, you know from personal experience why simply suggesting to someone that they forget about it, or that they try to think about something else, can't possibly work.

Why not?

Well, try this little exercise:

1. Try not to think about a pink elephant.
   
   
2. And don’t think about a white mouse sitting on top of the elephant’s head.
   
   
3. And whatever you do, don’t think about that white mouse happily bouncing up and down, up and down, again and again, on top of that pink elephant’s head.
   

So, what happened? What did you notice?

Well, you might have noticed that you can’t not think about what it is you don’t want to think about without thinking about it first.

You’ve probably thought about that before, haven’t you?

In other words, to know what it is you don’t want to think about, you have to first create some sort of internal representation in your mind of whatever that is first. The mere act of doing this forces your attention on the very thing you’re trying so hard not to think about.

THE REAL SECRET TO ESCAPING THE WORRY TRAP — FOR GOOD!

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So far, we’ve learned that trying to stop worrying about something that truly bothers you definitely doesn’t work. That only tends to make it worse.

So what do you do instead? Well, believe it or not, one of the most effective ways to cure to habitual worry is to worry more — effectively.

As counterintuitive as that idea seems, it actually works amazingly well. Why? Because of the way our brains are wired.

You see, our brains work on something called The Principle of Economy of Effort. This means our brains will not expend energy on anything it doesn’t believe will be a worthwhile investment of its resources.

The fact is, any behavior repeated over time is only a behavior the brain perceives as somehow benefiting the person. In his outstanding book Life Strategies, the good Dr. Phil calls this benefit a payoff. You see, if the person’s brain perceived no useful benefit to the behavior, the behavior would not continue to be objectified over time. That’s all there is to it.

The act of “chronic worry” certainly thus falls into the category of such behaviors. People only continue the behavior of chronic worry when they’re getting something out of it. It follows then, that if the payoff is removed, the brain will no longer find value in continuing the behavior.

So what’s the payoff for all the worry?

Well, let's see — what happens to most of us when we worry? We feel fear or anxiety, don’t we? That’s the product of all the worry — and the payoff. If you were somehow able to neutralize the emotional "reward" resulting from all the worry, the brain would very simply stop expending the energy to continue the worry behavior.

As counterintuitive as it may seem at first glance, only when you cease trying so hard to stop worrying, and instead allow the worry to continue unabated, will you basically bore yourself out of the need to keep worrying.

But, admittedly, it's difficult for the untrained person to just take this idea, run with it, and somehow make it work. You have to do this right.

One really great way to make this happen effectively is to schedule a particular time to worry, and do nothing but worry. It’s even better if you schedule this time during a period when you would, quite frankly, rather be doing something much more entertaining, such as watching your favorite TV show — say, every evening between 8:00 – 9:00 PM. You see, to the degree you can associate inconvenience to the process of worry, your brain will begin to associate pain to the behavior. At the point wherein the brain begins to associate more pain with the continuance of a particular behavior than simply giving it up, your brain absolutely will give up the behavior — guaranteed.

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"How Would You Like To Gradually Lessen The Intensity Of Your Panic Or Anxiety Attacks Until Those Attacks Are Gone For Good?!"

Anxiety disorders are varied and include things like social anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and phobias. Millions of people around the world are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder during their lifetimes, and so many are looking for answers as to what has caused this medical condition, which can be quite serious. The title here may be misleading, because there really is no one cause of anxiety disorders. You may have an anxiety disorder for any number of reasons, or a combination of reasons. In order to learn more about your condition and try to pin point its cause, here are a few of the things that play into the development of an anxiety disorder.

First and foremost, many people want to know if anxiety disorders are genetic and can be passed on to future generations. Studies show that this may be the case. If a parent has an anxiety disorder, there is a chance that you may get this disorder as well. However, family factors may play a role in this as well. When you are raised in a household in which someone has an anxiety disorder, you are essentially taught these panic behaviors as well. Phobias are especially common to be passed to other family members. Insure relationships with parents may also cause anxiety disorders later in life. In short, this may be partially due to genetics, but also has something to do with your childhood environment as well.

Other environmental experiences outside of your childhood living conditions play into the development for anxiety disorders as well. If you have a traumatizing event as a child, or even as an adult, that even could either stay with you, causing post-traumatic stress disorder, or could affect your thinking, causing other types of anxiety disorders. Social pressures and culture may play a role in this as well, teaching people to become anxious at certain times or fearful of certain things.

An anxiety disorder may also be the result of health factors not related to genetics. Phobias and other anxiety disorders sometimes develop due to a chemical imbalance in the brain, especially with the chemical serotonin, which also affects depression in some people. Evolution comes into play, because you automatically have a fight-or-flight system built into our brains. The foods we eat, amount we exercise, and sleep we get every night all play roles into how our brain functions.

Lastly, anxiety disorders may develop due to stress. When you are stressed about something, you may find that you slow start to wear out. While our bodies are built to handle certain amounts of stress, over time, this simply breaks down and we give in to anxiety, which can develop into an anxiety disorder. No matter what the reason, however, it is simply important that you ask for help dealing with your condition.

I urge you to get

Anxiety-You Are Not Alone

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Is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing(EMDR) a Treatment For PTSD?

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy that was developed to resolve symptoms resulting from disturbing and unresolved life experiences. It uses a structured approach to address past, present, and future aspects of disturbing memories. The approach was developed by Francine Shapiro^[1] to resolve the development of trauma-related disorders as resulting from exposure to a traumatic or distressing event, such as rape or military combat. Clinical trials have been conducted to assess EMDR's efficacy in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Theoretical basis

EMDR integrates elements of imaginal exposure, cognitive therapy, psychodynamic and somatic therapies. It also uses the unique and somewhat controversial element of bilateral stimulation (e.g. moving the eyes back and forth). According to Francine Shapiro's theory, when a traumatic or distressing experience occurs, it may overwhelm usual ways of coping and the memory of the event is inadequately processed; the memory is dysfunctionally stored in an isolated memory network. When this memory network is activated, the individual may re-experience aspects of the original event, often resulting in inappropriate overreactions. This explains why people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic incident may have recurring sensory flashbacks, thoughts, beliefs, or dreams. An unprocessed memory of a traumatic event can retain high levels of sensory and emotional intensity, even though many years may have passed.

EMDR uses a structured eight-phase approach and addresses the past, present, and future aspects of the dysfunctionally stored memory. During the processing phases of EMDR, the client attends to the disturbing memory in multiple brief sets of about 15–30 seconds, while simultaneously focusing on the dual attention stimulus (e.g., therapist-directed lateral eye movements, alternate hand-tapping, or bilateral auditory tones). Following each set of such dual attention, the client is asked what associative information was elicited during the procedure. This new material usually becomes the focus of the next set. This process of alternating dual attention and personal association is repeated many times during the session.

The theory is that EMDR works directly with memory networks and enhances information processing by forging associations between the distressing memory and more adaptive information contained in other semantic memory networks. It is thought that the distressing memory is transformed when new connections are forged with more positive and realistic information. This results in a transformation of the emotional, sensory, and cognitive components of the memory so that, when it is accessed, the individual is no longer distressed. Instead he/she recalls the incident with a new perspective, new insight, resolution of the cognitive distortions, elimination of emotional distress, and relief of related physiological arousal.^[2]

When the distressing or traumatic event is an isolated incident, the symptoms can often be cleared with one to three EMDR sessions. But when multiple traumatic events contribute to a health problem—such as physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, parental neglect, severe illness, accident, injury, or health-related trauma that result in chronic impairment to health and well-being—the time to heal may be longer.

Other Resources:

PTSD: Pathways Through The Secret Door

Wide Asleep Slumber No More

Bianural Frequency Harmonics

I'll be doing more research on this so stay tuned

Timothy Kendrick

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy

Image by MargauxV via Flickr

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy: Could it Work for You?

Anxiety disorders can be very difficult medical conditions with which to live. However, if you are suffering from panic disorder, social phobias, generalize anxiety disorder, or any one of the number of other anxiety disorders, all is not lost. By talking to your doctor, you can get help controlling your symptoms and treating these disorders at the core. One form of treatment you can consider is cognitive-behavior therapy.

Cognitive-behavior therapy is a combination of cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy. With cognitive therapy, a person learns to understand and change their thoughts and beliefs. With behavioral therapy, a person learns to change specific actions. Combining these two therapies is not difficult and has provided anxiety disorder patients with the very best results.

Cognitive therapy focuses mainly on patients recognizing certain things within themselves. Many people are confused about cognitive therapy—it isn’t about changing negative thoughts to positive thoughts in order to push for happiness. Instead isn’t about changing destructing thoughts that are often repetitive and feed into anxiety to thoughts that are more easily controlled and do not trigger anxiety attacks.

Behavior therapy, on the other hand, focuses on changing your actions instead. Relaxation and breathing exercises are common with behavioral therapy for anxiety disorder patients. Another type of behavioral therapy treatment commonly used is desensitization, which places patients in situations that cause anxiety gradually, in order to get used to the idea and control the anxiety.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy does not work well for absolutely everyone. While there are many people who can benefit from this form of treatment, there are others who will do better with other treatments. If you are considering cognitive-behavioral therapy, you need to meet two qualifications. First, you have to be motivated to change. If you are resistant to change, you won’t do the work required to make cognitive-behavioral therapy work and recovery is not possible. Secondly, you need to have access to a therapist specially trained to deal with cognitive-behavioral therapy. Your doctor can help you find a professional in your area.

In short, think about trying cognitive-behavioral therapy as a form of treatment for your anxiety disorders, even if nothing else has helped you. When you seek treatment, you put yourself on the right track for actually feeling better.


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Oddly Enough Fibromyalgia and Exercise = Healing

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Fibromyalgia and Exercise

The most effective treatment for fibromyalgia is exercise. Which seems totally weird, because most people with fibromyalgia hurt worse and are more fatigued after exercise, and they may feel that way for days. The key is the right amount of the right kinds of exercise.

If you are new to exercising within the constraints of fibromyalgia, it may be helpful to enlist the help of a trainer, physical therapist or exercise physiologist to design a program specifically for you. Every person with fibromyalgia has a different exercise capacity, so you need an individualized program.

Another important concept related to exercise is your “baseline.” Each person has a different baseline. It is the level of exercise that you can maintain over time. It does not mean that you are pain-free, but that the pain doesn’t interfere with your lifestyle. You also need to remember that you’ll always have good days and bad days. You don’t stop or reduce your exercise because of a bad day. (Although you may reduce it for a while if you have a bad flare-up that lasts days or weeks.)

Exercise training for someone with fibromyalgia begins with stretching. Stretching reduces the stiffness and keeps ligaments and tendons from shortening over time. Stretching should be gentle and it should feel good. It is usually a good idea to warm your muscles with mild aerobic activity, such as walking, for a few minutes before stretching.

Daily low-impact, gentle aerobic exercise is the next step. Aerobic exercise has tons of health benefits. It specifically helps reduce fibromyalgia symptoms because it improves flexibility, causes your body to release endorphins and other happy chemicals and reduces stress. Walking and bicycling are excellent low-impact exercises. It is important to start at a level suitable to where you are and increase your level of exercise slowly. If you get fatigued after five minutes of walking, start there and increase your time by a minute or two every week or two.

Some activities are especially good for fibromyalgia. Water aerobics and swimming are wonderful. The buoyancy of the water supports your sore muscles and allows you to exercise with less pain. Swimming has a double benefit of gentle stretching along with aerobic exercise.

Tai Chi and Qi Gong and Yoga emphasize slow, gentle movements that are ideal for people with fibromyalgia. All three exercises include breathing and focusing, which decrease stress. You also learn to be aware of your body and learn to recognize signs of stress.

Pilates is another exercise system where you work with your body, stretching and toning it. Pilates is a non-weight bearing exercise, like chair aerobics. It is a gentle way to tone your body, and gentle is the word for exercising with fibromyalgia.

People with fibromyalgia can add some strength training slowly as they build up exercise tolerance. Resistance bands provide plenty of strength training for a while. Strength training must be undertaken carefully and gently, and it might be wise to get help from an exercise professional before adding it. There are many benefits to strength training, and it could be a very beneficial addition to your exercise, especially when you are feeling well.

Whether we are talking about exercise or sleep, pacing and routine are important if you have fibromyalgia. Going to bed and getting up at the same time every day helps with sleep. Exercising at the same time every day helps with exercise. Your body begins to respond to routine.

Exercise must be paced, too. That means starting at a low level, increasing gradually, and incorporating rest into your routine. You exercise, then rest, then exercise some more. Over time, you can shorten the rest periods and/or lengthen the exercise periods. Rhythm and pacing make a big difference in how much exercise you can tolerate.

It is recommended that you consult your doctor before starting any new exercise regime.

To find out more on why exercise can be so beneficial please visit EliminateFibromyalgia.com .